Last updated on February 5th, 2024 at 04:03 pm
The key to twin care is to simplify as much as possible. Products that are versatile, hard-working, and built for twins are critical. Multi-tasking will become a normal part of your day (and night); it helps if the baby products you choose multi-task too. Even better if they can support your family past the newborn phase and into your twins’ toddler years.
Luckily, several of these key newborn twin must-haves help make your journey a little less chaotic and much more enjoyable so you can focus on what matters.
A Night Nurse
Let’s start with your support system. Obviously, you want to surround yourself with family who are willing and able to roll up their sleeves to do household chores, cook, do laundry, and help care for your twins (and you), especially in those first three months. You will need all available hands on deck. But, I also recommend hiring a night nurse to support you and your family during the often long overnight hours.
A night nurse (who is experienced with newborn twins) can take over feeding your twins for 8-12 hour blocks of time overnight while you rest, eat something, and sleep. Even if you are planning to breastfeed, I highly recommend hiring a night nurse for whatever period of time your budget allows. It was expensive, but it was worth it.
Another benefit of a night nurse? Learning from her! These are incredibly experienced nurses from whom you can learn so many tips and tricks on caring for your babies. Think of it as an investment in your health, your babies’ health, and your own peace of mind (and your relationship).
A Large Comfortable Chair that Rocks
When it comes to twins, a traditional rocking chair may be too narrow. Consider getting an extra large rocker or a chair-and-a-half size. You will likely be spending considerable time in this chair, rocking and snuggling both babies, so you want it to be comfortable!
As with all products, this category has a range of price points, from Pottery Barn to Target. You will use this piece of furniture until your twins are at least 4-5 years old, so remember, you will get your money’s worth!
Twiniversity Tip: If you can find a comfortable chair that is both rocker and recliner, get it! You may catch some much-needed sleep while in that chair, so the recline feature could make all the difference.
Twin Bassinet Pack and Play
When you think of sleeping babies, you probably envision them in their cribs. And they will sleep in their cribs, eventually! Newborns, and especially newborn twins, require places to sleep all over your home (living room, office, kitchen).
Why? If your house is like mine, the bedrooms are on a different floor than the living space, and this is where the twin bassinet pack-and-play came in handy. When nap time rolled around, I had somewhere to lay them down, and then I could rest on the couch or get a few things done with both babies close by.
The best part is that it will grow with your twins. You can remove the twin bassinet components and use it as a traditional play yard for the twins in their toddler years. You can also use it as a travel crib for one of the twins when they’re out of the newborn phase. Check out the Nest Play Yard by Romp & Roost.
Nursing Pillow Designed for Twins
A great nursing pillow is worth its weight in gold. Even if you aren’t planning to nurse, you can still use it to prop up the babies and bottle feed them. They can also take little cat naps on the nursing pillow.
You can use it to start their tummy time routine (laying on their tummy side down, arms out). Plus, these pillows are easy to move around the house, easy to clean, and awesome during the postpartum period. Our favorite for twins is the magical Twin Z Pillow. As the name suggests, it’s made for twins and does all the above seamlessly.
Baby Bouncers
You’re probably noticing a theme here: you need safe places to rest the babies all over your house. A combination of swings, bouncers, nursing pillows, and bassinets is essential for the newborn twin phase.
Some babies will prefer certain places and items to others, but you won’t know their preferences until they try a few out.
The Baby Bjorn Bouncer is one terrific bouncer that all of my kids loved. It’s beautifully designed, easy to clean, and provides babies with a terrific combination of comfort and movement. And, because of its lightweight design, it’s also easy to move around the house when needed (which will be often). We opted for the mesh material because we live in Houston, but all materials are equally terrific and easy to clean.
Changing Pad
Changing tables might seem like the way to go (especially when you can get one that matches your crib), but the odds of you using it more than twice a day (morning and nighttime) are rare. A twin parent needs a lightweight, stable, and easy-to-clean changing pad.
Enter the Keekaroo Peanut Changing Pad.
When my twins were born, we had two of these in our house: one in our living room and one in their nursery. With a simple wipe of an all-natural cleansing cloth, any feces or urine spills were taken care of (with one hand). The Keekaroo is attractive, stable, and has no muss, no fuss (perfect for twins)!
Sleep Sacks
Like all things baby, the sleep sack debate is much contested. There are many great options out there, but our favorite is the Love to Dream Swaddle Up.
We love this sleep sack for newborn twins because it allows the babies’ arms to rest naturally in the “arms up” position, and it’s easy to get baby into and out of. The Swaddle Up is easy to clean and comes in various colors and fabric weights. You’ll want to have a handful of these for each baby.
Formula Maker
I rolled my eyes at the array of fancy formula markers when I had my firstborn singleton. Why would one need that? Well, then I had twins.
I quickly reversed my opinion on how valuable these machines are in a twin parent’s life. Our favorite is the Baby Brezza Formula Pro. It’s quick, effective, attractive on your kitchen island, and easy to clean. When you have a crying, hungry baby (or two) in your arms, time is of the essence, and this machine makes life easier.
Twiniversity Tip: Even if you plan to breastfeed, this could be handy. I had to supplement breastmilk with formula, and this device earned its keep even when doing both.
The Bokee
The Bokee is in a category of its own. It’s a multi-use accessory that helps you open, fill, and close bottles with just one hand. Did you catch that? JUST ONE HAND.
This is a great tool for those who will be pumping and storing breast milk or using formula (especially on the go). It’s super affordable, BPA-free, and will transition into toddlerdom and sippy cups.
Twins Baby Log
So much of those early newborn twin days revolve around how much your babies eat, sleep, poop, and pee. Recording this information is so important with newborn twins. In the sleepiness of 2 a.m., it will be really easy to forget what baby nursed on what side and who pooped when. This is where a feeding log comes into play.
The hospital will offer feeding logs, but may we suggest one that is made for twins? The Twiniversity Baby Log is the EASIEST log to use, created by twin parents for parents of twins. Plus, it uses very little ink when printing out.
Don’t forget to grab the log when headed to the pediatrician for a follow-up appointment, they will want to see all this information, too!
Double Frame Stroller
We strongly encourage investing in a double-frame stroller for the newborn twin phase (maybe longer). The trick about a double frame stroller is that many are not appropriate for the newborn phase when your babies need to be laying flat (bassinet style) or in their infant car seat. Given that, here are two options to consider.
The first is a great early-stage workhorse of a stroller, the Baby Trend Double Snap-N-Go. This stroller folds easily (with one hand!) and fits two infant car seats into its double frame. This stroller allows you to place 2 infant car seats onto it without removing your children from the car seat.
The Bugaboo Twin Donkey is on the pricier end of the double-frame stroller spectrum. This stroller will work for your twins from birth to late toddlerdom. It comes with bassinets, and as the babies move out of the bassinets, they can be positioned facing in to encourage parent/child connection until late babyhood. It’s durable, easy to maneuver, and also is narrow enough to fit through doorways, making it a great option for urban living.
The prospect of taking care of two newborns at once is daunting and overwhelming. So before you start to panic, remember this list of newborn twin must-haves that will make the twin newborn phase a bit easier on you and your family.
Serena Roberts Houlihan is a mom of three, including identical twin boys. She is the co-founder of Le Wren, a gifting service specializing in supporting loved ones during tough moments. She now lives in Houston, Texas but is a proud native New Yorker.
